UMass Boston

Nineteenth Century American Literature

Course #: ENGL 651, Class #: 10197, Section #: 01

Description

The nineteenth century brought unprecedented growth and change to the United States. Industry, immigration, urbanization, the Civil War, social justice movement, the end of slavery, and reconstruction marked the country's move from nascent republic to international power. American writers grappled with these changes as they contributed to the development of a national literature: a literature that would, in Walt Whitman's words, be both transcendent and new. This course will consider both canonized and less familiar texts of the period through a variety of approaches, topics, and themes.